With lightweight bodywork held on by just a few bolts [note the one-piece tank-and-tail unit] and a plastic fuel cell, the Bimota YB8 used plenty of tricks learned on the racetrack and was pretty far ahead of its time. Based on the previous YB4 and YB6 but powered by the larger FZR1000 engine, approximately 250…
1990s Bimotas currently represent an amazing value, and this 1998 YB11 Superleggera has superbike performance, Yamaha reliability, and is very rare, all for under $10,000. “Superleggera” or “super light” is a style of construction that stresses lightweight materials and construction: Ducati’s Superleggera is so super and leggera that it actually weighs less than the British Superbike…
Considering just how rare Bimotas actually are, they’ve had a pretty strong influence on modern sportbikes. Take this Bimota HB3 for example: just 100 were ever made. And yet you can see that fully-faired, race-inspired styling that led to more mass-produced bikes like the GSX-R. In fact, Yamaha was very directly “inspired” by the Bimota’s…
Although it’s often the slinky bodywork that people remember about Bimotas, the frames are what really define them. The Bimota YB4 was designed around Bimota’s signature and unmistakable beam frame they used throughout the late 80s and 90s. No soft, moulded contours here: the spars look like girders that were extruded by some giant, industrial device, then cut and welded…
If simply going fast is your thing, you probably don’t spend much time on this site. You went out and bought a Suzuki GSX-R1000, threw some sticky rubber, rearsets, and a Power Commander on it, then went out to dominate road and track, with stone axe reliability and off-the-shelf parts availability. But in a sea…
For years, Bimota was a byword for high-performance motorcycles that provided ultimate speed and handling. But recent offerings like this DB6R have seemed strangely… practical. This shift even carries over to the exotic Tesi that is available with a set of handlebars, instead of the expected clip-ons. Recent Bimota offerings have showed a clear shift…
Update 7.28.2016: The seller has informed me this bike is now sold. Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc Update 7.18.2016: This KB3 has been relisted and now has a buy-it-now of $14,995. Links updated. Good luck to buyers and seller. -dc Several years after its original 1984 build, Motorcyclist and SportRider magazine writer Nick Ienatsch…
Aside from the disastrous VDue, Bimota’s stock-in-trade was wrapping lightweight frames and fantastically exotic bodywork around reliable powertrains from established manufacturers. The magical formula that led to bikes like the Bimota SB6 seems so simple, it’s a wonder it took so long for other manufacturers to catch on: wrap too much engine in too little…